Wheat Industry Pushes Back on 'Wheat Belly' Claims 

Producers of the television show The View asked the National Association of Wheat Growers for a statement regarding claims by a guest on the show that changes in wheat hybrids over the last 50 years have made it less digestible for humans. NAWG consulted with several wheat industry leaders, including OSU Wheat Breeder Dr.Brett Carver in developing their response

The View aired a segment Tuesday featuring Dr. Jeffrey Morrison, a certified nutritional expert. He agreed with claims by Dr. William Davis, a cardiologist, who has called the wheat produced today a "chronic poison." In his book "Wheat Belly," Davis claims modern wheat varieties bear little resemblance to their ancestors and that modern-day wheat is a causative factor in many chronic diseases.

On Tuesday's show, Morrison asserted that wheat has been bred over the last 50 years to enhance levels of the protein gliadin, to enhance shelf life and yield. Morrison said the increased levels of gliadin resulted in allergies and indigestibility.

Here is the NAWG response which was read during the show:

"Humans have been growing and eating wheat for thousands of years, and the assertion that wheat's nutritional value has been changed is patently untrue.

"Eliminating wheat foods means eliminating an important source of healthful nutrients that are vital to our bodies functioning properly, like fiber, iron, B vitamins, antioxidants, and folic acid, which is especially important to women of childbearing age."

Dr. Carver says there is so much disinformation going around about the supposed perils of eating wheat that he calls it "glutenoia."

Click here for more of the story and access a link to an interview we did with Dr. Carver on this subject earlier in the year.

Agriculture Leaders to Converge on Washington to Rally for Farm Bill Passage 

Members of National Farmers Union will be on hand at the "Farm Bill Now!" rally as legislative representatives, agricultural leaders and hundreds of farmers and ranchers come together in chorus on U.S. Capitol grounds Sept. 12 to encourage Congress to pass a new, comprehensive, five-year farm bill before current farm programs expire at the end of September.

"The sheer magnitude of the diversified support for this rally is a testament that, while we may all have wide-ranging and oftentimes divergent policy priorities, our primary policy at this critical moment in time is to see a complete, five-year farm bill passed into law by the end of September. I'm hopeful that our unified voice gets heard by Congress loudly and clearly at Wednesday's rally," said NFU President Roger Johnson.

The "Farm Bill Now!" rally, which will take place at Union Square in front of the Capitol Reflecting Pond, will feature members from the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives addressing the crowd, as well as leaders from a broad range of farm, conservation, energy, consumer and nutrition organizations.

You can read more on the rally by clicking here. 

Vitamin A Deficiencies in Cattle Possible Due to Drought, Selk Says

In the most recent issue of the Cow-Calf newsletter, Oklahoma State University Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist Glenn Selk says cattle producers need to be aware that drought condtions can deprive livestock of vitamin A.

Vitamin A is rarely a concern in range cattle nutritional programs because it is readily synthesized from carotene that is common in green growing plants. However, in drought situations where plants become dead or dormant, the carotene content becomes practically devoid and may lead to a deficiency of the precursor to vitamin A. Carotene is very low in mature, weathered forages, grains and many crop residues. Carotene will be lost in stored hay crops over extended periods of time. Therefore if hay that was stored throughout all of last fall and winter is to be fed in the upcoming winter, the vitamin A content will be considerably less than when that forage was originally harvested. In addition some scientists have suggested that high nitrate forages common in drought years can exaggerate vitamin A deficiencies. Deficiencies of Vitamin A usually show up first as weak, blind or stillborn calves. Other signs are scours, respiratory problems, poor gains and poor reproduction.

Fortunately, the liver of cattle is capable of storing vitamin A for long periods and frequent supplementation is not necessary. A singular injection of one million International Units (IU) of vitamin A provides sufficient vitamin for 2 to 4 months in growing and breeding cattle.

Click here for more.

Monsanto Announces 2013 Release of Genuity Droughtgard Hybrids in Western Great Plains 

For the 2013 season, Western Great Plains farmers will have a new tool to help manage drought conditions with the stewarded commercial introduction of Monsanto's Genuity® DroughtGard™ Hybrids. The DroughtGard Hybrids system combines germplasm selected for its drought-tolerant characteristics, the drought-tolerant biotechnology trait and agronomic recommendations.

The system is designed to help the corn plant so it can use less water when drought stress occurs. This improved hydro-efficiency creates the opportunity to conserve soil moisture and can help minimize yield loss from drought conditions. This season approximately 250 farmers participated in Monsanto's Ground Breakers? large-scale, on-farm testing program by planting DroughtGard Hybrids on their farms to get first-hand experience with the new product.

"Early results from our Ground Breakers trials this year are encouraging," said Mark Edge, DroughtGard Hybrids marketing lead. "Harvest is just getting started in many areas throughout the Western Great Plains, and Ground Breakers farmers in Central Texas and Eastern Kansas are seeing an up to 6 bushel advantage over competitor hybrids. We believe DroughtGard Hybrids will become an important tool for farmers to help mitigate yield loss caused by drought stress." 

You can read more about Monsanto's new drought-resistant varieties by clicking here.

Controlling Next Year's Weeds Begins with Fall Inventory

Although it is too late to spray for most summer pasture weeds, agricultural producers can act now to improve their weed control program for next year by taking a weed inventory.

At this stage in the growing cycle, weeds are large enough to see, and most will have seed heads or fruiting parts that make them easier to identify. "If you have a lot of weeds in a certain place this year, you will probably have them again in that place next year," said Eddie Funderburg, Ph.D., senior soils and crops consultant. "Taking a weed inventory allows you to target the difficult spots, prepare for them and develop a plan that can save money."

Conducting a weed survey begins by identifying the species and abundance of each weed. The abundance rating system can be as simple as "few," "many," "scattered," or similar descriptions. Producers should then mark this information on a field map and highlight areas where there are hard-to-control weeds or particularly high numbers of weeds. "Accurately identifying areas that can be spot-sprayed will save time and money by not spraying the entire field," Funderburg said. 

For more on this story, please click here.

OSU Professor Examines the Facts Regarding the Safety of Hormone-Implanted Beef

Dr. Josh Payne, area animal waste management specialist with Oklahoma State University, has written the following article in hopes of shedding some light on the misunderstood subject of hormones and beef.

Questions exist in the public sector regarding the safety of consuming hormone-implanted beef. In short, the use of supplemental hormones in beef production has been scientifically proven as safe for consumers and is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For those still in question, let's further examine the science supporting these facts.

Hormones are products of living cells naturally found in both plants and animals that often stimulate cellular activity. There are six hormones approved for use in beef production. Three are natural hormones (testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone) and three are chemically similar synthetic hormones (melengestrol acetate, trenbolone acetate and zeranol).

Growth hormones in beef are primarily administered using a small pelleted implant that is placed under the skin on the back of the ear. The implants are designed to release the hormone slowly over time into the bloodstream. This ensures that hormone concentrations remain constant and low. Since the ear is discarded at harvest, the implant does not enter the food chain. Implants work by increasing the amount of growth regulating hormones, which are naturally produced by the animal. This, in turn, increases feed efficiency, protein deposition and growth rate. Implanted calves usually result in a 10-20% increase in average daily gain (growth rate) compared to non-implanted calves. Moreover, because of the increased feed efficiency, less feed is required which decreases production costs by 5-10%.

Click here for more information from Dr. Payne.

This N That- BQA Session at OSU Still Has a Few Openings, Petitions Handed Over to Boehner and Beef Buzz Part Two

The fall sessions for the Beef Quality Assurance training in the state will be happening in just a few weeks- and the late word we get from Heather Buckmaster of the Oklahoma Beef Council is that there are still a few slots available for the second of the two sessions happening the first full week of October- that second session will be held October 3rd through the 5th.  For cattle producers and others in the cattle business- the BQA training allows for you to better understand the connections between that bovine critter standing in your pasture and the resulting piece of beef sitting in the middle of your plate for dinner. BQA donnects the dots. For more info- click here for the full story that we have on our website that will point you to the online registration that is being coordinated by the Food and Ag Producers Center at OSU.  It's the best deal out there- no cost for those that want to attend- as that is being underwritten by the great folks at the Oklahoma Beef Council.

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Another group  is pushing hard for the House to consider the 2012 Farm Bill- and they have elected to make House Speaker John Boehner their pressure point. The Dairy Farmers of America have submitted petitions to Boehner's demanding action on the House Ag Committee's Farm Bill here in September.  Click here for more on this aspect of the September Farm Bill battle.

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Part two of three parts in this week's special series being heard on the Beef Buzz is available this morning- it features comments from Rick Funston of the University of Nebraska with his take on replacement heifers- as he continues to look at low cost- highly effective methods of bringing those younger females into your mama cow herd. Click here for part two of this three part series that is foudn in our Beef Buzz section of our website- OklahomaFarmReport.Com.